I was watching Parenthood the other night. One of the characters was dealing with her post baby body self-esteem issues, and I was totally feeling her.
I remember looking at myself in the mirror wondering, will I ever feel beautiful again? After having a baby let alone two or more, it seems like your body just doesn't want to cooperate and quite frankly having breast bursting with milk is just uncomfortable. I know eventually, I got used to my new body, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to get the old one back at least a little.
I suppose this had to happen to the poor girl, in the middle of a really nice party her milk lets down and she leaks all over her dress. If you have never had this happen, lucky you. It can be very embarrassing. Along comes Her husband to comfort her (good man). He is telling her that she is beautiful and that he wants her, but she shrugs it off. Instantly, some thing began to bother me about this scene. I wasn't sure at first what it was but then it hit me. It was her reaction to her husband. There she is dealing with her insecurities, when the man she loves comes in to rescue her from her pity party. What she do? Blow him off.
It got me thinking about how often we, women, want to be pursued, wooed, and told we are beautiful, but when the men we love do we roll our eyes. We say "whatever" or you have to say that you're married to me. I realized that our own insecurities prevent us from enjoying the thing our heart wants most, to be treasured.
Beauty begins with knowing that you are valuable, worthy of another's devotion. Beauty does lie in the eye of the beholder, but the only eye that matters is yours. I have had help in recognizing my own beauty. My husband taught me to just agree with him whenever he tells me I'm beautiful. It has taken years, too many shrugs and eyes rolls for me to count, before I actually began to believe him. I know I am beautiful, because I believe it.
Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteTwo things stood out to me. One is the need to redefine beauty into broader terms. We have bought a lie when we believe that beauty only comes in certain containers that are the right size and shape. The other is that we need to notice and receive the blessing around us-that are right there in front of our face. In so many ways we can have this attitude, and not even be aware of it, that the grass is greener on the other side or somehow just out of our reach, so that when someone is trying to draw our attention to a blessing we do have, we can resist believing and embracing it. Th
Thanks for posting and drawing attention to the need to embrace the good things around us and in us. And, in particular, to embrace the beauty within and outside ourselves!